The present invention relates to a hand held weed trimmer and, more particularly, to a weed trimmer having an accuracy shield affixed thereto that protects and stabilizes the rotating line.
In general, weed trimmers or weed wackers are quite common and they normally comprise a motor located at either the proximal end or the distal end of an elongated shaft and a rotating spindle at the distal end, with the rotational movement of the motor being transmitted to the spindle. There is also normally an intermediate handle along the elongated shaft to provide stability and to facilitate the handling of the weed trimmer by the user.
A plastic line extends radially outwardly from the rotating spindle such that the line spins rapidly along with the rotating spindle to cut the vegetation such as weeds or grass, that come in contact with the line. There is also a conventional line extending system that allows the line to be played out incrementally by hitting the bottom of the rotating spindle on the ground (bump) which then releases the line to extend further outwardly from the spindle. The actual outward movement of the plastic line is accomplished by centrifugal force created in the line by the rotating spindle and the line plays out by that force and the outer end is cut to a predetermined length by a line cutter that is provided on the housing to cut the line to a specific length.
One of the difficulties with current weed trimmers is in the control of the device, even with the elongated handle and the intermediate handle and the location of the end of the line is somewhat uncertain and not stable, particularly when using the weed trimmer as an edger to neaten the edge of a lawn. In edging, the line spins in a generally vertical plane and the depth and uniformity of the cut edge is difficult to maintain over the length, for example, of a driveway.
Another difficulty with the present weed trimmers is with the line extending system that plays out the line when the line is released, that is, it is played out by centrifugal force however, if the line is inadvertent cut too short by encountering some obstacle, the line may not be sufficiently long to create the needed centrifugal force to cause the line to play out from the rotating spindle, such that the line must be manually pulled out, thereby negating the usefulness and convenience of the automatic line extending system.
As a further difficulty, the present lawn trimmers, when used as an edger by turning the trimmer to an orientation where the plane of the rotating line is about vertical, the user has little stability at the distal end and therefore the trimming is not consistent and neat. Instead, the distal end wavers as the person walks and the trimmed edge lacks the appearance of a straight, neat line formed in the edge of the grass.
It would therefore be advantageous to have a weed trimmer that had better control of the length of the line to avoid it being cut or broken off too short as well as additional control of the end of the line to better cut the weeds or grass in a uniform manner, whether during the process of normal grass trimming or edging.